Shots Fired

Almost exactly at 10:30pm CST I heard about fifteen gunshots, from two different guns, and it sounded like it was in another section of this apartment complex that's across a road and drainage creek and about three blocks away as the crow flies. I didn't count the first shots because I wasn't paying attention but I'd say there were at least seven or eight. 

 It was about as loud as a high-quality firecracker but I knew it wasn't fireworks. Each pop was perfectly even in volume and time between. A second or two later I heard a much louder gun..."POP POP...POP POP POP POP POP POP." Eight shots from the second gun, again perfectly even. I'm guessing it was a shootout or a drive-by with two guns but who knows. Usually I go right out on the deck if I hear anything like that, such as a couple of months ago when I heard a noise that sounded like some maniac trying to chop down a huge tree with an ax, which bloody hell if it wasn't, but this time it was gunfire, and so close I looked outside for a minute before I went out. 

 In less than five minutes four cop cars pulled into that part of the complex and started swarming the place, driving around the roads right around where it sounded like the shots came from. I took my camera out but they didn't turn on the lights until they apparently found the perp or perps, since they stopped in one spot and have been there quite a while. Right as they stopped I heard one of the weirdest screams I've ever heard in my life. It was high-pitched and almost like a scream and a gasp at once. I could do without hearing too many more of those for the rest of my life, thank you very much. 

 I stood outside for a few minutes but I didn't hear anything else. They'd all hit the blues at once and I took a few photos to use in this post, but there's a stand of trees in between and all I could get was tiny blue specks of light. Even with my super-night-vision I could only make out a few people walking around. It seems they figured out pretty quickly whom it was. I hope nobody got hurt but it sounded pretty serious. 

 In fact, while I've heard the rare gunshot or two in the distance pretty much in every neighborhood I've lived, that's the most I've ever heard in a row that wasn't on TV or at the shooting range. It was close too. I guess I led a sheltered life up until now but that was attention-getting. Actually it's the most excitement I've had all year. Gunshots for the holidays. Nice. I just LOVE living here.  Merry Xmas.